From Hollis to Astoria to Hollis again: Why I moved back to my old neighborhood after two months

Danielle's apartment in Hollis, Queens, faced Hillside Avenue and the street noise bugged her. She moved to Astoria, which she found convenient and vibrant. But she missed her old neighborhood and just a little over two months later, she moved back. Here is her story as told to Kelly Kreth.

I’m a Queens native—I was born and raised in Jamaica. Most recently, I was living in Hollis, after moving there in 2009.

In 2019, I started renting a rent-stabilized one bedroom with a dining room for $2,000. There was laundry in the building, and it was close to the subway but there were no other amenities.

I liked living in Hollis because of its convenience to Manhattan. I am a real estate agent at BOND New York and could commute into the city via express bus in about an hour.

[Editor's note: “Transitions” features first-person accounts of what it’s like to move from one NYC neighborhood to another. Have a story to share? Drop us an email. We respect all requests for anonymity.]

I love spending time in Cunningham Park, a 360-acre park. There is a strip mall on Hillside and Francis Lewis that has many conveniences: a supermarket, beauty supply shop, pizzeria, and a 99-cent store across the street. I’m not a very social person and tend to keep to myself, so social activity in the neighborhood didn’t interest me.

Why she decided to move

I decided to move in June. I enjoyed living in Hollis, but my apartment faced the front of the building on Hillside Avenue, which is very busy all the time, especially in summer. Sometimes the city did construction at night or in the early hours of the morning, and the sound of jackhammers and excavators drove me nuts.

I knew exactly what I was looking for and as an agent, I had access to management companies and could easily get keys to view listings.

I focused on Astoria—it’s so vibrant and diverse. I found a one bedroom for $2,500 and made my move.

My new place was conveniently located near the five different bus lines. In the morning, I would take the Q69 and transfer to the Q32 but surprisingly, that commute took about an hour because of heavy traffic leading up to the Queensboro bridge.

Why she decided to move back

Astoria has a lot of restaurants and I enjoyed brunches with friends and family, but I missed the Hollis/Jamaica areas so much that I decided to return after two months. I started looking for a place immediately. My maximum budget was $2,550. After just two weeks, I found an apartment back in Hollis. I didn’t have a lease in Astoria so moving wasn’t a big issue.

My new place in Hollis is smaller but cheaper and has the outdoor space I really wanted. Initially, I wanted a place with a laundry room but I was willing to sacrifice that for private outdoor space.

Now I have a small, one-bedroom apartment for just $1,800 in a two-family house, which is new for me. Previously I had only lived in apartment buildings with elevators and laundry in the building. The best part of my new place is the private patio!

As a single person with no children and no pets, I felt perfectly fine moving again so soon. My family is happy with whatever makes me happy, but friends with children and pets didn’t understand why I’d move again so quickly.

So now I’m back in my old neighborhood just three blocks from my former apartment building. However, this one is not facing Hillside so it’s much quieter.

I’m on the second floor and I am not keen on walking up the stairs. It's perfectly fine most days, except for laundry days. Then it's a bit annoying, but still very doable. Because there are no laundry machines in the house, I send my laundry out and just meet the pick-up person at the front door.

I now have the same commute as before on the same express bus line. The only difference is I get on the bus one stop earlier.

I am so happy to be back and know I will stay in the Jamaica/Hollis area. I truly love it here.

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